NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Sept. 26, 2005--Boeing Co. (A/Stable/A-1) reached a tentative agreement with its machinists union on a contract offer that would end a three-week old strike that shut down the firm's commercial airplanes operations. Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that this development has no effect on its ratings and outlook on Boeing. The International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers' union leaders are recommending that the new contract offer be ratified by its members with a vote on Sept. 29. Boeing's revised offer is an improvement over the earlier one for the workers, especially in terms of pension benefits and health care provisions, although other aspects of the contract have been modified. According to the
